


Helpless to Protect You

by WindStainedDreams



Series: Medieval Fairy Tale Adventures (InuKag Week 2017) [1]
Category: Inuyasha - Fandom
Genre: Day 1 - Protect, F/M, Festivals, Human Inuyasha, InuKag Week 2017, Prompt Fill, but nothing happens, implied potential rape/non-con, lanterns, new moon, they escape before anything bad happens, visiting Kagome's time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-21
Updated: 2017-03-21
Packaged: 2018-10-08 17:28:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10392087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WindStainedDreams/pseuds/WindStainedDreams
Summary: InuYasha doesn't pay attention to the phases of the moon.  He and Kagome might be in trouble.Being human isn't easy, but at least there's lantern-light gleaming in Kagome's eyes.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Read the tags for warnings, but just in case you want to skip over them there, here they are again. 
> 
> Implied potential unwanted sexual advances towards Kagome and InuYasha, but they get out of the situation before anything happens to either of them.

 

 

It wasn't that hard to do.  By now, protecting Kagome had become instinct.  It was easier than breathing, second nature to make sure that she was safe before he tore apart whatever threat they were facing.  Tessaiga sang with the hope of keeping her safe, keeping all his friends safe.  It would never be a problem to protect her.

 

Of course, that's why it would happen like this.

 

InuYasha had decided to visit Kagome in her time, not thinking about the phases of the moon.  So now here he was, wearing clothes that itched and smelled funny even to his human nose, helplessly _normal_.  The festival was small but full of sights and sounds InuYasha could barely understand.  At first all the lanterns had amazed him because they didn't burn up like the ones he remembered from his childhood, but once he got used to it, they enchanted him for a whole different reason.  

 

Kagome was beautiful in the lantern-light.  

 

Her hair glowed orange and red, like a sunset was hiding just behind the next strand to blow in the evening wind.  Kagome tucked a stray wisp behind her ear and smiled shyly at InuYasha, a faint blush tinging her cheeks to match the rose coloured glow of the hanging lights.  Everything felt warm and safe and close, the couples laughing and children running around playing a distant sensation compared to the comfort he felt when he was close to Kagome like this.  

 

Wandering to the edge of the small woods that surrounded the shrine, the pair looked around at the festival and stood close under the boughs of the nearest tree.  InuYasha sniffed again, all the smells of the future overwhelming him because he couldn't separate them as well anymore.  Kagome reached up and pushed aside his black hair, fingers tickling against the skin of his human ears.  He wanted to twitch them but couldn't, and so he pulled his head away gently.  Kagome smiled at him, eyes sparkling, and InuYasha smiled back.  

 

It took him way too long to notice the group of young men coming towards the path that lead into the woods.  They didn't seem like much, especially compared to the soldiers and demons that they usually fought, but InuYasha wasn't used to anticipating the actions of people brave on drink and high on the sight of a pretty girl. 

 

It really should have been obvious that the boys had noticed Kagome and thought that she was probably going to be an easy mark for their attentions.  Putting themselves at the edge of the festival didn’t help matters any.  It was dark and the rest of the revelers were far away.  InuYasha cursed his hair and human blood.  In these times, he probably looked like another girl for them to bother.  And he didn’t have his strength and speed to fight them off. 

 

By the time they realized how close they were to danger, the four drunken boys had them nearly surrounded.  It wasn’t a danger usually felt by the half-demon and he shivered in the cool night air.  Kagome gasped and pulled herself closer to InuYasha, trusting him to keep her safe even when he was human.  Dammit.  Why did it have to be the night of the new moon?  Kagome needed him. 

 

InuYasha put himself between Kagome and the group’s leader, trying to not make things worse for them.  He could feel her shifting her weight, ready to run or to fight, depending on what was going to happen next.  He also felt her take a deep breath and knew that she could scream like no one else he knew.  He hoped that she wouldn’t have to. 

 

“What are you two lovelies doin’ out here all alone?” the leader asked, smirking. 

 

InuYasha didn’t bother answering, glaring at the idiot as he looked for the chance to escape.  The group may have been unsteady on their feet, but with a sickening lurch in his stomach InuYasha realized that they had done this before.  They had gotten away with this before.  A bit of drunkenness wasn’t going to prevent them from getting what they wanted from a pretty girl they outnumbered. 

 

He reached behind himself to grasp Kagome’s hand. She squeezed back, trusting him. 

 

A large family, clearly cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents all together for the festival wandered past, children dodging the young men with the ease of practice.  The parents didn’t even notice the tension they were walking through, and InuYasha wasted no time, slipping into the group and following along until they reached the other side of the woods and the street beyond. 

 

The drunks hadn’t bothered following, although he could hear the swearing coming along the path.  InuYasha let the family keep going, rounding up the kids into the appropriate machines and driving off as the two of them stood in the orange glow of one of the big lights that lit the streets here.  Kagome was shivering against him, and InuYasha had to admit to himself that his hands were trembling where they were pressing her to him. 

 

It took a while for their heartbeats to steady, and their breathing to return to normal.  The harshness of the orange light above them was nothing like the warmth from the lanterns, but InuYasha wouldn’t go back no matter what.  He had to keep Kagome safe.  It was so much harder to do when he was human.  His grip tightened and he felt his fingers dig in, harder than they could if he had his claws.  With his claws he could have protected her more easily, but with them he couldn’t hold her quite like this. 

 

Kagome eventually pulled back with a pained smile, keeping her arms on his shoulders.  InuYasha didn’t want to let go either and his fingers spasmed as she took a step back.  She searched his face and leaned back in to press a kiss to his cheek. 

 

“Thank you, InuYasha.”

 

“You’re welcome, Kagome.  Let’s go home.” 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> For the InuKag week on tumblr, Day 1 prompt "Protect". 
> 
> I hope that my first foray into this long loved fandom will go smoothly. Please let me know what you think, comments are life. If you don't want to comment here, you can do so [ on my Tumblr. ](https://tinbramblearts.tumblr.com)


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